Read: Dare to be Different and Develop Yourself

Dare to be Different and Develop Yourself

How many coaches read? It is an area I found well into my coaching career and I wish I had found it sooner.

Here is a list of literature that I have read over the years. I have also been fortunate enough to meet some of the authors on a one to one basis and listen to them present live. You don’t get them type of experiences on a coaching course.

Here is my list, some with a few comments as to why and how I related the subject to my coaching career to date…

Insanely Simple by Ken Segall: This is about choosing simplicity vs complexity. The irony is, to achieve this can be complex. For me football is a simple game, don’t complicate it.

Barca The Making of the Greatest Team in the World by Graham Hunter: A great read for the football purist.

The Gold Mine Effect by Rasmus Ankersen: For all scouts out there, this is a must read.

Goal – The ball doesn’t go in by chance: management ideas from the world of football by Ferran Soriano: Read this out of curiosity, during my time at Manchester City FC, Ferran became CEO and I wanted to know who I was working for. Ultimately, as a head coach you will be working with a CEO one day, so you will need to know their world and how to manage up!

Legacy by James Kerr: The All Blacks the most successful team on the planet. As a coach why wouldn’t you read it?

Pep Guardiola – Another way of winning by Guillem Balague.

Pep Confidential by Marti Perarnau

Mourinho – Further Anatomy of a winner by Patrick Barclay: The books on these two managers are plenty.

Peak Performance – Business lessons from the worlds of top sporting organisations by Clive Gilson, Ed Weynes, Kevin Roberts and Micheal Pratt: As a football coach you can learn so much from outside of the football world.

64 Shots of crazy leadership by Kevin Roberts: As a coach are you in the box or outside the box? If you need to know how to create a SUPERVUCA environment for your players and staff ! then read this book.

Outliers – The story of success by Malcolm Gladwell.

Mindset – The new psychology of success by Carol S Dweck: If you are in coaching then you will know this book. Yet, do you coach with a fixed mindset or a growth mindset ?

How to be F***ing Awesome by Dan Meredith: This guys’ story about his journey is inspiring. The way he tells it regards the language may not be to everyones taste yet the messages are huge.

The Art of War by Sun Tzu: Read this book on my way to Shanghai. If you want to know how to plan a victory and avoid defeat read this. A book that great world leaders still follow today.

Alex Ferguson Leading by Micheal Moritz: Again a must read for any coach!

Winners and how they succeed by Alastair Campbell: This book articulates how business, politics and sport can learn from each other. Written by a guy who advised the PM on how to run the country for the best part of a decade. As a coach we only have to coach a team! simple right?

Talk like Ted – The 9 public speaking secrets of the worlds top minds by Carmine Galio: A large part of coaching is communication. You need to learn how to do this well. Think about what you say, how you say it and in what environment you say it in to get the reaction or the behaviour you want.

How to design Ted worthy Presentation slides by Akash Karia: You want the same job as the other 200 applicants, how are you going to stand out? Read this to find out!

The Idea in you by Martin Amor and Alex Pellew: These are ideas guys who companies pay well to make them reality. Are you an ideas coach? Do you innovate and create?

All of the above books cover every corner of the 4 corner model and more, they just descibe them all in different guises. Think about the Performance clock of a coach and all the skills you need to be able to do well, no matter what level you are working at. Your personal development and the influences you seek will depend on how you look at it.

It’s ok to be different, if you are a coach and have never read a book then start today.